


Angry bird

by darkrogue1 (Lily_Haydee_Lohdisse)



Category: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Soulmate Goose of Enforcement, F/F, Gay cats gay cats gay cats, Gen, M/M, Torture and Murder Are Not Solutions To Life's Problems
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 18:08:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14721023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lily_Haydee_Lohdisse/pseuds/darkrogue1
Summary: Short story written for the prompt : "Soulmate AU where one person finds a goose who leads them to the other person. The difficulty comes in not being mauled by a goose".And there were two other random tags to include there.





	Angry bird

**Author's Note:**

  * For [phoenixacid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixacid/gifts).



> I'm still keeping the idea that there is something in the Master's oath that should prevent them from sleeping with their apprentices.

Life's events are strange sometimes, and a cop's life events are even worse. I'm not even counting the fact that I'm a magical cop this time, since what DCI Seawoll calls 'weird bollocks' had only little to do with my walking the pride's parade with a gay cats tee-shirt, right next to a cats themed float.

 

Gay cats everywhere.

 

But even if I could have found myself here because of the normal part of the job, the fact that we were meant to protect a woman's new girlfriend from her crazed practitioner ex was explaining why I was partnering with my boss on this particular jig.

 

DCI Nightingale was walking on my right, also in a gay cat themed tee-shirt, with rainbow cats and displaying the text 'purride'. I had wondered how it weird it would be for him, because I always saw him dressed so formal, but he was pulling it off very, very well, even while keeping his cane. Why am I even surprised?

 

All in all, the first hour had been uneventful, and I was busy scanning the crowd for suspicious faces when I heard a very loud bird honk in the far. Immediately I turned to Nightingale, who was looking right back with slight alarm.

 

Of all the people I know, he is the only one with a Soulmate problem. Of course, with so many people around and accounting for today's theme, it could have been for someone else, but the look on his face was telling me otherwise.

 

For almost as long as I have been living in the Folly, I have known that Thomas Nightingale is the target of a Soulmate Goose of Enforcement. That's the bird that is supposed to bring soulmates together. He regularly uses a magical ritual to banish it and is dead set on ignoring it, which might explain why the bird is so angry. How'd you feel if someone was preventing you to do your job for decades?

 

Well, I never asked, so I have no idea how long it has been since Nightingale has been chased around by it. Usually, if one soulmate dies, the other is not long to follow so that would solve a goose problem for good... but I have no idea how this applies to a near immortal wizard with an aging backward condition. So I assumed his soulmate was dead or worse, and since he was completely ignoring the subject, I was modeling myself to do the same.

 

There was another honk, this time closer. "You didn't do the ritual?" I asked, but even then I knew he didn't. Of course he couldn't have last night. We had been busy with a magical confrontation and trying to explain a jilted magical lover that Torture and Murder Are Not Solutions To Life's Problems. I sighed. Sadly when given the choice of saving the victim's life or persuing the suspect, the victim had taken precedence and the practitioner had escaped. Hence our presence here today.

 

There was a commotion and the sea of people parted to let through a very angry bird. I launched myself at it and tackled it while it was targeting Nightingale, and with the help of amused participants, we managed to restrain it.

 

So, soon, I found myself waking an angry glitter covered goose on an improvised rainbow ribbon leash - and its beak was secure with a neat bow - which the crowd was finding very entertaining.

 

"Why was that ritual invented anyways?" I asked Nightingale a few minutes later, because until now I had not thought to ask.

 

"To make sure soulmate business would not interfere with wizard studies." Was the response I got.

 

"That makes sense." I answered, because magic was serious business, and disrupting such a long apprenticeship right in the middle _would_ probably prove distracting for any student. And in an attempt at levity I added a jab at him. "I bet you never expected to have to use it as a teacher!"

 

There was a fugitive panic on his face, but it disappeared so quickly that I'm not entirely sure I saw it right. He sighed, and his face was resigned and long-suffering when he answered, "Actually..."

 

I never got to hear what he wanted to say though, because that's the moment our perp chose to appear, and there was a chase and explosions, and... well, no one got hurt, and the damage really wasn't my fault this time.

 

When we got back to the Folly, the first thing Nightingale did was head towards one of the labs where he had his equipment set up, and start his ritual. I was still holding the Soulmate Goose of Law Enforcement on its leash - Guleed's idea of a nickname -, and exchanged a look with Molly.

 

"Think it would be edible?" I asked. The glance she threw me and the bird was eloquent. Something like 'you want to try?'

 

I looked back at Nightingale, who was already starting his magic. "Maybe next time, then."


End file.
